Jeanmar Gomez

The price that was paid, and the results that led him up to the trade had everyone believing that Andrew Miller would trump the incumbent Cody Allen in Cleveland. Through two-pitched games, he has seen one save opportunity in the 6-7th inning, and the other was in a losing effort. Now, I am not reading the tea leaves here, but after just two appearances and five games overall, I think Cody is not a droppable player in any format, saves holds or NSVH. I mentioned it out loud to myself after the trade was completed, and also to Prospector Ralph. With 55 games to play and save chances in 52 percent of games won… so that would leave 14 or so chances for the Indians and Miller to retain value. And don’t get it twisted, he still has a ton of value with a ridiculous K-rate over 16, and the Indians are still a first place squad. Just everyone that seems to matter has struggled with the Twins. It’s crazy that they are 20-plus games under .500. So for the Allen owners, hold firm, like Gi-Joe style grip type stuff. Miller owners, you have most likely owned him all year, so your peripherals aren’t going to be flawed because of him. As far as saves go, I think it could go 70/30 the rest of the way and be a situational thing on occasion. Let’s look at the plethora of changes that are basically pillaging the relief ranks around baseball…

Mike Napoli hit his 27th homer yesterday. He now has five straight games with a home run. On the year, he is top 30 for fantasy value on our Player Rater. Dude is such butter right now brioche buns be jumping up on his back. (Why am I not writing rap lyrics?) Uh-oh, Napoli’s so hot, he’s bringing out my rap alter ego, B-Fire. Napoli is such butter right now brioche buns be jumping up on his back! Yo, he’s not whack like some homeboy going to a strip club with a quarter stack! In fact! Grey’s got more indoors, then you got outdoors, and technically there’s more room outdoors for you to have more but nope, my room’s got floors! *dance, prance, romance off your pants* My action lines got asterisks, smooth. Your action lines got an asterisk with an excuse down below why you can’t move. *said while bowing sushi chef-style* Napoli. Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

“But I can’t Jo-Fer that (Jo can do). No, I can’t Jo-Fer that, (Jo can do). Oh, I can’t Jo-Fer that (Jo can do), I can’t Jo-Fer that, can’t Jo-Fer that, can’t Jo-Fer that, but Jo can do!” I can do this all day. Seriously. That yin vs. yang, angel vs. devil, Ho-Hos vs. Yodels constant battle wrecks havoc on me. Jose Fernandez showed why he’s one of my favorite pitchers yesterday. I mean, goddamn, he made that pitch famous, he made that pitch famous! His line: 6 1/3 IP, 2 ER, 6 baserunners, 14 Ks. So, what’s the problem? What is the yang, devil, Yodel? That he will be shut down barely into September. If the Marlins stay in the pennant race, Jo-Fer may even be shut down earlier to give him a chance to pitch in October. I love him, but if you can get anything close to equal in value for him, I could see trading him in redraft leagues. Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

I am always a day late and a buck short on the posts because I am relegated to be the Saturday morning cartoon of the Razzball variety. No worries, I mean, who doesn’t love 80’s cartoons and can’t list 10 shows that would drastically alter children’s universes today? One word… Snorks. So with everyone else doing the second-half rankings, I felt it was my duty to give the closer rankings based solely on the second games remaining. The elite will still be the elite, the mediocre are still mediocre, and the middling teams will still be middling. I don’t care what algorithm Jimmy Bill came up with to have expected win totals and blah blah. Expected win totals are an indicator of save expectations. because the percent of saves converted in wins by teams has been pretty stagnant at 52%, give or take a few sheckles each way. So looking at the games remaining, some teams have less games to play then others, and some have more so the expected totals for some teams will be different then what you would expect them to be. So as a wise person once said to me in throws of fantasy passion, lets have at it. Cheers!

Sometimes you ask and you shall receive and in that vein, I begin this month’s Razznasty update. Now I know the two questions you’re asking, what did you ask for and receive? And which vein? First, it’s the main vein, you know the one in the middle…. Secondly, I asked our very own Hippo in the bush Matt Truss to make a push in the standings over the course of June so I could name the next update “Can’t Truss It”. Done and done. I told Mr. Truss-ah Truss that I’d dress as Flavor Flav from this video while I wrote it. Truss, that I held up my end of the bargain, picture me decked out in white tuxedo with top hat and Batman glasses. Unfortunately I can’t share with all of you due to a shortage on the correct cartridges for my vintage Polaroid Sun 600. Sorry boys, and whatever number of girls are reading this year. I believe we were up to five, but we might have lost a few after the Jose Canseco interview. There’s nothing that upsets the ladies more than invasive question about Madonna’s early 90’s sperm brokering. Enough of the bollocks, onto the Razznasty update for June. Dynasty League Baseball at it’s finest.

So this year, like so many before, the closer trade market is always an interesting cocktail mixer of events that shake things up. The Padres waited to be first, which makes zero sense… but also makes total sense. A conundrum wrapped in bacon as they traded Fernando Rodney to the ever more deadly bullpen in Miami. He will not be closing there, but will basically make that bullpen just deeper and taking value away from great holds guys on the year in David Phelps and Kyle Barraclough. Rodney brings his glistening 1 earned run on the year, to a situation behind the Marlins closer A.J. Ramos, who hasn’t blown a save to date. So now the ramifications don’t just stay with the Marlins, their bullpen is solid. The Padres, however, are like the movie Thinner, a cursed bunch of unprovens, which is sometimes good and bad. Ryan Buchter is the first guy up, as he has carved out a decent set-up niche there. After that, it is a bunch of Quacks, Villas, and BM’s. Buchter has the K-rate, just not the pedigree… yet, to be a closer. He has the job as they say in fantasy, which is better than being fantasy homeless or unemployed. So Buchter is the add. Maurer and Quackenbush are on ready five. Here what else is happening in the game of final bosses. Have a safe and Happy 4th of July weekend!

The save buffet line in Minnesota is becoming a tiresome “wait-and-see who gets the chance today”. We all sit there and wait to own all the bullpen condiments that they offer, whether it be Brandon Kintzler, Fernando Abad, Trevor May, Kevin Jepsen, or Michael Tonkin. Including Perkins, those are the names that have been gifted a precious save chance for the occupants of the Twin Cities. A save opportunity total that is second to last in the league (18), in front of a surprise first place team in the Cubs. The Cubs are only there because they are beating everyone up and don’t have the late-inning chances that other losing teams do. So back to the Twinkies… they have the least amount of saves, holds, and have the least amount of appearances by relievers with the lead. All those things are so bad for roster space that you are speculating it to get you a save. They are on pace to average less than 3/4 of one whole save a week. But if people want to keep roster shuffling, looking for the odd save here or there, who am I to judge? I mean, some people say cucumbers taste better pickled. The fortunate thing for you is that I am here to guide that steady hand and give you astute advice for a nominal (not nominal, it’s free) fee. So here the rankings of closers for week 11, now with more added snippets of goodness!

Situations arise all the time with closers. Injuries occur, poor performance, and then the return of the incumbent. In the preseason, Will Smith was the guy the Brewers had tabbed as the closer. Then, like I just said, an injury happened. So now that he is back, what goes on in the back-end of the Brewers bullpen? Jeremy Jeffress has done a stellar job with a less than average set-up crew in front of him. He has pitched to a 2.45 ERA and a slightly more bloated xFIP of 3.41. For all his previous tangles with pitching, he is striking out far less then he is normally accustomed to at just a 6 K/9 rate. Low for a closer, even from the Lauvern and Shirley state. He has managed 14 saves in 15 opportunitioes, and for a team like the Brewers, 14 is a healthy total. So does his reign come to an end now that the best reliever is back in the fray? Granted, it is never a great thing when usual mop-up relievers start stealing your stats, namely Blaine Boyer and Carlos Torres, who have 3 saves between them in the past nine games. And granted, saves are wonky and games dictate them sometimes, come from behind wins, and situational loogy-ness are also a factor. So I think with the way Jeffress has been going, he stays there until Will comes and steals his mojo and never looks back… Until the trade deadline, which could alter things up completely and basically revert it back to the way it was. So if Will Smith is on your waivers, do yourself a service and add him speculatively for a week or two. If he doesn’t give you the returns that you expect, then, well, the opposite happened of what I think should happen. Enjoy Week 9 of the fantasy baseball season’s closer report!

You wanna know frustration? Of course, you do. You play fantasy baseball! We’ve chosen a hobby that is the least relaxing hobby possible. May as well have a hobby of picking cheese off mousetraps. If the mousetrap doesn’t smash your finger, you win. What do you win? A virtual trophy! Oh, and bragging rights. Awesome! Okay, wanna really know frustration? Wait to see how Dusty uses Trea Turner upon his call-up. This is gonna be so fun! Will Lloyd’s of London insure the ulcers of all Trea Turner owners? Yesterday, he was called up to replace Ryan Zimmerman, who went on paternity leave. So, unless Zimmerman’s wife takes as long as he does to get hot, I’m assuming Zimmerman will be back in three days tops. At that point, Turner will stay with the club and play, stay and get benched or get demoted again. If he stays with the club, do you think Dusty is going to play him over Espinosa? Well, he could. I guess. “So, how do you play this mousetrap game again?” Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

Okay, if I’m being honest, what I’ve attempted to do in this post is completely experimental. While based on statistics it’s really just a wild attempt to calculate which closers are bringing home the bacon. And by bacon, I mean points. And by points, I mean points. How many points is each closer going to get me (on average) in a given week. In other words, don’t try this at home. I’m not even doing this at home.